The City of Minneapolis Public Works' current proposal for the Samatar Crossing would create a 2-lane road with a pedestrian walkway and a bike path. WBCC has heard many concerns about the health, safety, and livability if this project includes motor vehicle traffic through the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. Council Member Warsame is standing with the community and has said he will support what our neighborhood wants. Please sign the petition and share with all of your neighbors!
News Articles
- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's Last Act: West Bank Walkway
- City will dedicate bridge in honor of Hussein Samatar
Last year we put money into the city budget to convert the current freeway ramp into what we called “Samatar Crossing,” a pedestrian link from the West Bank into downtown that would also house a major skate park. R.T. Rybak (May, 2014)
Who's signing
No Vehicles on Samatar Crossing
We, as residents, business owners, and property owners, are concerned about vehicles on the Samatar Crossing for the following reasons:
- Safety: A street would add 1,000-3,000 more cars per day to an area that is the densest area of Minneapolis, filled with families and young children who would be endangered by that increase in traffic. This project would make it more dangerous and difficult for youth to access Curie Park and the Brian Coyle Center.
- Traffic: The area is already overburdened by high traffic, with long lines of cars backed up on Cedar Avenue, 6th Street and 4th Street during much of the day. Any increase, even at the low end of an additional 1,000 cars per day, will only serve to exacerbate our existing, and very frustrating, traffic issues.
- Pollution: Cedar Riverside is already forced to deal with excessive levels of air pollution because of its location. To increase the amount of traffic by an additional 1,000 to 3,000 cars and thereby increase the amount of air pollution in the area, without even studying its potential health effects would only harm the community even more.
- Lack of Engagement: Even though the Samatar Crossing was proposed to benefit the Cedar Riverside neighborhood by creating a connection to downtown, residents have not been given the opportunity to help shape the project. In order to stay true to the spirit of the connection, it is vital that more inclusive community process take place before anything is finalized.
These concerns, and others, are why residents, business owners, and property owners of the Cedar Riverside neighborhood are interested in a Samatar Crossing that only has bike and pedestrian access!